


The Past and Present Time

by AnnieM



Series: The Ben and Meg series [4]
Category: due South
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 18:16:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13487022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieM/pseuds/AnnieM
Summary: Ben Fraser is feeling down at his new cabin in the woods. An old friend "listens" in.





	The Past and Present Time

**Author's Note:**

> One of my plot seedlings surprised me and grew!  
> Alliance owns the characters except the babies, no money is being made.

Benton Fraser finds himself sitting in a forest glen, by himself a little less than he use too. His melancholy a little less pronounced then in recent memory. He tries to live in the present day and not so much in the recent past and days of yore.

A light snow is falling, the kind that lends atmosphere to the surrounding spruce and fir trees. It is quiet and peaceful in this spot he has come to think as his place for reflection. His home where ever he may be, is little less occupied than before; a friend of many years gone in body and spirit. The loss is felt deeply, like a guiding light gone.

He is not alone, he KNOWS this. He has his wife Meg and the ten month-old twins to make any place a home. But this nagging loneliness that in the beginning, after Dief's passing, was so strong; now it has become a dull ache to which has no answer too.

Meg, has to the best of her love and ability, tried to ease the pain of loss. She misses that big wolf-dog too. It took a while to become comfortable with this extraordinary (being-no animal-no spirit) force-of-nature, but succumb to his charms she did! When she made baked goods, especially with cinnamon-sugar, she made two dog-size ones and snuck them to Dief.

********************** 

Diefenbaker could not go out on patrol with Ben any more, so when he was out, Dief would go with Meg to work. She found his presence strange and new at first, but soon it became her bedrock and peace during those three week patrols that Ben took every three months. Dief soon enjoyed her company as well.

Even now in 2006, parts of Canada were still remote and wild. They needed " the last of his kind," a throw-back Mountie of old, to keep the peace as it were and to aide those who needed it.

In January, Meg found herself getting tired easily and the morning dregs she was having could only mean one thing! Last year ( in 2005) between October 8th and November 23rd it was decided; Ray and Stella Vecchio, Ray and Maggie Kowalski, and Ben and Meg would meet in Chicago on November 10th. They would celebrate Thanksgiving early or late, depending on your point of view. This was Veteran's Day also so it worked out nicely. Both Ray's had Christmas plans with their families, so it would be some time between the next get-together.

Now, after a rather spirited weekend with their friends, that Sunday night Ben and Meg had gotten quite frisky, and in their haste they had forgotten "something." Meg realized this the next day but said nothing. If it happened great, they had talked about children coming sometime before the next two years; before it really was too late to have them!

So on the First of July, 2006, after much discomfort both physical and mental (and quite a bit of grousing) Ben and Meg's twins made their entrance into the world. One girl and one boy, both with dark hair, with the boy having blue eyes and the girl brown.

It was decided not to name them after any family members, to encourage them to follow their own path. Melissa (Missy) came first, a bit feisty; but after the necessary cleaning and checking, soon settled into an air of serenity. Brooks came out a little quieter, he did not like being poked and prodded, and let the nurses know with a mighty wail. Meg had to hold him for about ten minutes to quiet him down before giving him over to be checked.

These traits had changed very little in the past ten months. Both babies were crawling and Missy showed signs of wanting to walk. Brooks was more cautious, watching his sister to see how she fared in this first grand adventure in living.

Dief was happy with his new family members in the pack. When strolling with Meg, the babies in the pram would get appreciative stares and comments. While still being watchful and on guard; Dief, even if he was an old wolf, would first protect, then beam with pride over the young ones. He had gotten to see his Ben and Meg have young of their own, for he felt his own end coming near.

On December 29, 2006 while sleeping under a beautiful spruce Christmas tree, Diefenbaker left to "walk with his ancestors." Meg was the first to wake that morning and find him. He seemed to have a peaceful look on his face. She woke Ben and then gave him some privacy with Dief.

They asked a neighbor in Yellowknife to look after the twins for the night; then went with Dief's body to their cabin one hundred miles outside town. Ray and Maggie were told, but could not come, they would notify the Vecchios. There by Dief's favorite tree, the one he had Meg secretly trace his paw outline in the bark, he was buried. He liked this place because it was truly HIS packs place, not Ben's father's. Dief knew they would come and see him once he was gone.

*********************

It is now April 2007, and Ben is now on a bench made of two old tree stumps and a plank of old door from his dad's barn. His father's cabin is still there for use by his sister and Ray, but the barn gave-way last year. Maggie, Ray and himself are still trying to find the time to build a new one. With both siblings having young ones, Maggie and Ray have a girl a year old and one on the way, it's been hard to do.

Ben then hears a noise, turns slowly to see a doe with two fawns, sticking her head out of the trees to look around. After starring in each other's eyes to take measure, the doe relaxes and walks into the glen with her brood. Ben just smiles, thinking how very much like his Meg this doe seems, always protective and loving of her twins.

He decides that he has spent enough time brooding and reminiscing about the past. His present and future need him now. He rises and takes two steps before he hears a snuffling sound and turns around. There in front of his tree stands Dief's image smiling at him. Dief *wolf's * at Ben, "Glad you came to visit, but our pack needs you! Go home friend, to love"!

Before Ben could respond, Dief disappeared. After a moments thought he responded,  
"You are wise as always my old and dear friend, and I miss you," turns and leaves the glen and goes back to the cabin in the woods.

Meg, despite the chaos that the two babies are making, *senses* Ben's arrival at the door and greets him with a hug and says,  
"If you are through talking to Dief, dinner's ready and I am famished! Those two have just eaten dinner already."

Ben just smiles in wonder at his mate, appreciating how lucky he is to have his family and friends. He enters the cabin, their home away from the city, that they love.

When the time comes, he and Meg will retire to this place of peace and contentment. Here they will live out their days and enjoy the memories made in the past, and in this place and time.

**Author's Note:**

> R C, I hope you do not mind if I borrowed a phrase from your "Ben Jr series." I thought it was very beautiful, and nothing else would do!


End file.
